Acorn Urban Park

Acorn Urban Park Renovation Project Update

Public invited to hear about future plans to Acorn Urban Park

M-NCPPC Montgomery Parks will be presenting the recommended plan to the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) for a design consultation. The plan is on the agenda for the next HPC hearing scheduled for Wednesday, November 14th, 2018, beginning at 7:30 pm. The meeting will be at the M-NCPPC Montgomery Regional Office Auditorium, located at 8787 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring, MD. Staff will present the recommended plan to obtain input for historic preservation. Parks staff is encouraging interested residents to participate.

Stroll through this small but beautiful park in downtown Silver Spring and enjoy the iconic Acorn Gazebo and beautiful shade trees. The rustic acorn-shaped gazebo is typical of lawn structures dating from early- to mid-nineteenth century. Historians believe the structure once adorned the estate of Francis Preston Blair who found the mica flecked sparkling spring that the city of Silver Spring is named after.

M-NCPPC acquired part of the park in 1942 and the remainder in 1997.

History

According to local history, in 1840 a newspaper publisher and friend of President Andrew Jackson, Francis Preston Blair, discovered the spring bubbling up through shiny mica sand. Two years later, Blair and his wife Eliza established a 300-acre summer estate called Silver Spring, on which he built an Acorn gazebo. The gazebo is a good example of rustic garden structures and furniture popular in the mid-1800s. The residence, located on Eastern Avenue, was demolished in 1955. His winter house, the Blair House, is now the President’s official guest house in Washington, D.C.

The sentimental meaning of the acorn is that Blair proposed to his wife underneath an oak tree. The Acorn gazebo moved from its original place to its present location in 1955; it’s now owned by the Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission.

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